ABSTRACT
Industrial policy consists of the mechanisms used by governments to pursue structural adjustment, in declining industries, or in expanding industries. The European economic competition has linked protection to its 'industrial policy' by imposing a heavier than normal tariff on microchips whilst at the same time seeking to develop a European presence in the industry. This chapter argues that all governments of the industrialised West have been forced to intervene in the industrial structure of their domestic economies because of the increasing openness of the world economy. It discusses British government information technology policy and the markets included within the information technology of the industry. That market comprises the products and markets of three industries—those of computers, telecommunications and microelectronics. Although some multinationals with local manufacturing subsidiaries have been let into the market, government monopoly of the telecommunications network has allowed imports to be kept to a minimum.
